The man who bought a lottery ticket in San Jose, Calif. and was one of two winners who hit the $636 million Mega Millions jackpot came forward. On Friday, lottery officials identified him as Steve Tran.

"Exciting news. The person who bought the Mega Millions jackpot-winning ticket in San Jose has finally claimed his $324 million prize. His name is Steve Tran. He arrived late Thursday afternoon at the California Lottery’s Sacramento District Office," lottery officials said.

On the Saturday before the Dec. 17 drawing, Tran said he couldn’t help but buy five Quick Pick Mega Millions tickets when his family stopped in Jennifer’s Gift Shop, located at 1818 Tully Road in San Jose. Tran said he and his family like to visit, eat, and shop in San Jose because there is a large Vietnamese community there.

Tran watched the news when reporters announced that two tickets hit the jackpot -- one bought in San Jose, California and the other bought in Georgia.

Just like everyone else in the San Francisco Bay Area, Tran wondered who the winner in California was. The jackpot that started its ascent Oct. 4 was the second-largest lottery prize in U.S. history.

"Must be a lucky man," Tran thought to himself.

Why did it take Tran so long to discover he won and claim his giant prize? Tran said he added the golden ticket to a pile of other lottery tickets he had purchased in multiple other towns while making his runs as a delivery driver.

The entire lot ended up, “just sitting in my house on top of my drawer," Tran said.

While the winning ticket sat there waiting to be discovered, Tran and his family went on vacation. They only recently returned home. Tran said he was exhausted, but out of nowhere, something in his mind clicked at 3 a.m. Monday.

“I woke up in the middle of the night. I remembered, 'I think I went to San Jose,'" Tran said.

Tran said he checked his tickets and discovered he had hit the jackpot. His wife got a smile and a massive hug. He then phoned his boss and left a message: “I’m really sorry boss. I hit the jackpot. I don’t think I’m going to come in today, tomorrow, or ever.”

Tran shares the $636 million prize with another jackpot winner in Georgia, Ira Curry. Split between the two tickets, it comes to a total of $324 million per winning ticket. The cash equivalent for each ticket is $173.8 million before federal taxes.

Curry, of Stone Mountain, Georgia, lives in a neighborhood of brick and stucco houses with manicured lawns about 10 miles east of Atlanta. She purchased the ticket at the Gateway Newsstand in the Alliance Center building in Buckhead, a financial center in Atlanta.